Note from Irene: I spent last week in the throes of a summer cold. Wanted to die, but didn’t. So here we are. Better late than…
“The first obligation of any wine is to be delicious.”
—Eileen Crane
Contrary to what is said, you can buy love… one bottle at a time!
63. Masseto 1993 – I was about to jump into the deep end of the pool.
Just saying “Super Tuscan” makes me weak at the knees. I have yet to have a Super Tuscan I did not like. Most Super Tuscans include native Sangiovese grapes, but they also include varietals such as Cabernet Sauvignon. I admit that I have a fawning pleasure for the Cabernet Sauvignon varietal. Blending Cabernet Sauvignon into these wines makes it just extra special, but does a Super Tuscan have to be blended with just Cabernet Sauvignon? What about other varietals?
My Italian friend Cesare Vicario, who introduced me to Super Tuscans with Sassicaia, was going to do it again. However, this time I was about to jump into the deep end of the pool. It was around 2000, and we were in Siena for dinner. Siena is 52 kilometers (31 miles) from Florence. Cesare had chosen a lovely restaurant, and he selected a wine that he assured me I would enjoy. I can still recall that Cesare paired this brilliant wine with a veal stew, and the pairing was magnificent.
Our meeting was set in Siena for one more reason: we were going to attend the Palio di Siena, referred to by the locals merely as il Palio. The Palio is a horse race held twice annually in honor of the Madonna of Provenzano and the Assumption of St. Mary. The race takes place in the piazza, with 10 bareback riders racing. The riders wear colors representing their contrade, or city wards. It is loud, colorful, and fun. Everyone is waving their chosen contrade’s flags.
In the olden days, the winning horse did not have to have a rider to win, because whips, kicks, and punches were permitted to unseat the riders. In the beginning of the film Quantum of Solace, Daniel Craig, as James Bond, chases a villain over the rooftops of Siena during the Palio. You can see how crazy the race and the crowds are.
The wine Cesare introduced to me in Siena that evening was the legendary Masseto. Lodovico Antinori, who first founded Tenuta dell’Ornellaia and then Masseto, has deep roots in Tuscany. The Antinori family was a powerful pillar of Florence during the Renaissance. They were on the same level as the di Medici family. The Antinori family made wine in Tuscany in the 1300s. It is with this background that Ludovico Antinori created Masseto, an über Super Tuscan.
Tenuta dell’ Ornellaia was founded in 1981 in the village of Bolgheri on the Tuscan coast. Antinori acquired a parcel adjacent to the Ornellaia estate, with the intention of producing a second-label wine. However, the famed oenologist André Tchelistcheff, whom Antinori had hired as a consultant, believed there was something unique about Bolgheri’s blue clay, sand, and pebbly soil. The Tyrrhenian Sea, with its cooling maritime breezes, is only about 11 kilometers (seven miles) away, and it made the site ideal for growing Merlot. Merlot was a varietal that had never found a foothold in the area. Thus, Masseto became a standalone estate.
Cabernet Sauvignon is a varietal frequently used in making wines throughout Tuscany. It is commonly blended with other grapes such as Sangiovese, Syrah, and Cabernet Franc. Masseto, uniquely, does not contain Cabernet Sauvignon, and it is not a blend. It is a 100% Merlot varietal.
Masseto is made from estate-grown grapes. The estate is divided into three sections: Masseto Alto, Masseto Centrale, and Masseto Junior. Each section imparts different characteristics to the wine. It is the combination of the fruit from each vineyard plot that makes Masseto the incredible wine that it is.
Masseto was well-received from its inaugural 1987 vintage. However, the exorbitant cost of maintaining Ornellaia, of which the Masseto vineyards are a part, led Antinori to sell a majority stake in the venture to the American winemaker Robert Mondavi in 2002. Resistance to the estates’ foreign ownership and Mondavi’s own issues led to the estates being sold again in 2005. Enter, the Antinori family’s long-time rivals, the Frescobaldi family.
The Frescobaldi family’s history in banking and making wine in Tuscany dates back more than 700-years. The Frescobaldi family name is mentioned along with the di Medici family as Renaissance bankers and patrons of the arts. Dante Alighieri even mentions the Frescobaldi family in his seminal work, “The Divine Comedy.”
The family shifted from banking to winemaking in Tuscany in the 14th century. They instituted progressive production techniques, such as using a mixture of oak barrels and temperature-controlled fermentation.
Masseto is now in the hands of Lamberto Frescobaldi. He is a member of the 30th generation to contribute to winemaking in Tuscany. Masseto hired the famed Michel Rolland as its winemaking consultant in 1991. Rolland returned the favor by causing Masseto to receive its first 100-point score for the 2001 vintage. The world took notice, and the wine that was originally conceived to be a second label became more expensive than Ornellaia.
I now know that the 1993 was terribly young when I had it. I should be drinking it now. I had a Masseto again around 2010. The wine-memories of my first Masseto flooded back to me. I remembered notes of chocolate, truffles, and berries with rich tannins, something that both vintages shared.
Both vintages were amazing. The one thing I did not expect was that Masseto packed the heat. Vintages have ABV approaching 16%. Masseto is often compared to Petrus. Both are Merlot-based wines, but that gives you an idea of the quality (and price) of Masseto.
Masseto released a second wine, Massetino, which is considerably less budget-busting. Massetino’s inaugural 2019 release received high scores and has been praised by the critics. Massetino is primarily crafted from Merlot, with a hint of Cabernet Franc.
I learned so much about Italian wines from Cesare. He introduced me to Barolo and Brunello wines, but what I appreciate the most is that he introduced me to Super Tuscans.
64. Brunello di Montalcino –Remarkable wines from a remarkable region.
My dear friend Cesare Vicario introduced me to Brunello di Montalcino during one of my trips to Italy. I served as a member of the board of Cesare’s company’s American subsidiary. We always started out in Milan, where the company was headquartered. We would visit company offices or have meetings in other cities, such as Rome, Turin, and Zingonia. We had meetings in Siena and Florence on this trip. We enjoyed many wines throughout the week, but it was the Brunello di Montalcino that left the greatest impression. I had not had a Brunello until that first night in Sienna.
Let me tell you about my friend Cesare. He was the Chief Operating Officer of a family-owned Italian company. His older brother, Guido, was the Chairman and CEO. Cesare was a tall, erudite man of a discerning age. He was a polyglot, speaking seven languages. Cesare had a PhD in engineering, had written several books, and was also an artist, amongst other accomplishments. If that was not enough, he was also ruggedly handsome, looking like the Italian film star Rossano Brazzi, circa 1960s.
I recall the first time I went to Cesare’s apartment in Milan. I spied what appeared to be a very old goblet on a shelf in a glass cabinet. I asked Cesare about it, and he told me that it was quite old, as it was Etruscan. The Etruscans pre-dated the Romans. This meant that the goblet was over 2,500 years old, and he had it casually placed in a curio cabinet!
We would never order food or wine when we were with Cesare, as his epicurean tastes were such that he would always order for the table. Cesare’s wine choices were consistently outstanding. Unfortunately, I would not always get the name of the wines Cesare ordered. If only I had a mobile and my Vivino app in those days. Cesare always gave us the background of each wine. Naturally, Cesare ordered a Brunello di Montalcino as we were in Sienna.
Montalcino is a hillside village just south of Sienna. The village of Montepulciano is only a few kilometers away. This area is renowned for its wines. Brunello di Montalcino is a red Denominazione di origine controllata e garantita (DOCG) or Denomination of Controlled and Guaranteed Origin wine. Brunello must be 100% local Sangiovese varietal by regulation, as well as a minimum of two years maturation in oak, and additionally aged three years or more in bottle.
Vineyards in Montalcino are cultivated in a warm, dry climate and benefit from maritime winds. The vines are planted in soils that include limestone, clay, schist, volcanic soil, and marl. This type of soil produces wines that are intense and complex in character.
I have loved Brunello di Montalcino since Cesare first introduced me to them. Richard Ryti, another dear friend whom we have lost, was a Somm and a member of my wine group. Richard also loved Brunello. I always think of Cesare, who introduced me to Brunello, and Richard, with whom I enjoyed many a bottle, whenever I have Brunello di Montalcino. I just wish Cesare and Richard were still here so I could introduce them and share a bottle with them. I would like to think that I could now share a Brunello that they were not familiar with, but I doubt it.
Cin, cin!
